Course Description:

This course will examine the work of three of the most interdisciplinary thinkers of modern times: Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. Together, they have been described as "the masters of suspicion," and their work has transformed the way we conceive the world. They have influenced virtually every field of study in the arts, humanities and social sciences and they continue to pose challenges for scholars in almost every discipline. Over the course of the semester, we will explore the suspicions raised by these three theorists along with the possibilities they open for the interdisciplinary study of culture and society.

Textbooks:

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science (Vintage).

Robert Tucker, ed. The Marx-Engels Reader (Norton).

Peter Gay, ed. The Freud Reader (Norton).

Course Requirements:

The most important requirements for this course are regular class attendance, participation, and preparation. You should come prepared to ask and answer questions and to discuss the readings each day. The formal grading requirements are as follows:

Class Participation 20% Three Papers 20% each Final Symposium 20%

The class participation portion of your grade will be based on regular class attendance and participation as well as on periodic homeworks and in-class individual and small group assignments and presentations. Two absences are allowed during the semester, each additional absence will lower your class participation grade by one letter grade. More than six absences and/or failure to complete any of the written assignments detailed below are grounds for failing this course.

There will be three 3-5 page papers. Your paper should be typed, double-spaced, 12 point type, standard margins and no longer than 5 pages. Late papers will be docked one-third of a letter grade for each day late. More information on this assignment will be handed out at a later date.

There will be a final symposium during the regularly scheduled final exam period in which groups will apply the readings from the semester and present their own original analyses of a cultural, social or political text of their choice. More information on this assignment will be handed out at a later date.

Tentative Class Schedule:

T 1/12 Introductions.

TH 1/14 Interpretations and Disciplines.

T 1/19 Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, §108-113 including "Origin of knowledge," §121 "Life no argument," §355 and §344.

ASSESSMENT DAY

T 1/26§1-14 including "The teachers of the purpose of existence," §114-124 including "Herd instinct" and §345-347.

TH 1/28 §125 "The madman" and §343 "The meaning of our cheerfulness."

T 2/2 §55-58 including "Only as creators!" and §283-290 including "Preparatory human beings."

TH 2/4 §341 "The greatest weight" and §232-233.

T 2/9 §326-328 including "Taking seriously" and §379-383.

TH 2/11 Discussion.

T 2/16 Nietzsche Paper Due.

TH 2/18 Karl Marx, The Manifesto of the Communist Party, Part I (Tucker, pp. 469-483).

T 2/23 "For a Ruthless Criticism of Everything Existing" and "Contribution to the Critique É" (Tucker, pp. 12-5 and 53-65).

TH 2/25 TBA

SPRING BREAK

T 3/9 "Theses on Feuerbach" and The German Ideology (Tucker, pp. 143-163).

TH 3/11 Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 (Tucker, pp. 70-81).

T 3/16 Capital, "The Secret of Primitive Accumulation" (Tucker, pp. 431-438).

TH 3/18 Chapter 1, "Commodities" (Tucker, pp. 294-298 and 302-312).

T 3/23 Chapter 7, "The Labour Process" (Tucker, pp. 344-61).

TH 3/25 Discussion.

T 3/30 Marx Paper Due.

EASTER BREAK

T 4/6 Sigmund Freud, "Screen Memories" (Gay, pp. 117-126).

TH 4/8 The Interpretation of Dreams (Gay, pp. 129-142).

T 4/13 Beyond the Pleasure Principle (Gay, pp. 594-610).

TH 4/15 (Gay, pp. 610-626).

T 4/20 Civilization and Its Discontents, Chapters I & II (Gay, pp. 722-735).

TH 4/22 Chapters III-V (Gay, pp. 735-753).

T 4/27 Chapters VI-VIII (Gay, pp. 753-772).

TH 4/29 Discussion.

Freud Paper Due Monday 5/3.

T 5/4 Group Work.

Final Symposium During Regularly Scheduled Final Exam Time.